Samhain Blessings, Happy New Year to all Witches.

And what a beautiful night it is! Crisp, clear and cool. So my feast this year has turned into pizza because of unexpected guests but it's all OK. Every year on this day, we place a plate outside for the spirits as an honoring or gift. It's a time to honor those who have passed. To remember the good things and honor those memories.

It's also the best time to make new changes to your life, to start new projects or to set new goals. That's why I chose this weekend to end my job and start anew as a work at home mom. I am dedicating myself full time to my candles and products. I'm also dedicating this next year to fixing all of the broken things in my life. Sadly, they've been broken by unintentional neglect.

So, to my ancestors and visiting spirits I give you, pizza and wine. Not the most traditional offering but I most certainly am not a traditional witch.  Samhain Blessings. May all of your endeavors be fruitful ones.

So does it make me a Toob head?

Ok, I admit, I like TV. I have my shows I watch  religiously every week. Usually while I am working online or making candles. They let me get lost in another world. Sometimes, depending on the show, it makes me like my own life just a little more.

1. NCIS- it's an awesome team of people I love to watch
2. True Blood- only on HBO but I LOOOOOVE this show. Addicted actually. 
3. Dog the Bounty Hunter- C'mon, they hunt bad guys. Love it.
4. Bridezillas- A bunch of bratty, badly behaving women throwing public tantrums. Laughable.
5. Desperate Housewives- If only being a housewife was this interesting. 
6. Amazing Wedding Cakes- Never thought I would enjoy watching people create dessert as much as I love eating it.
7. Charmed- Witches with abilities we all wish we had.
8. Bones- Gross and educational all at the same time. Great cast of likable characters.
9. Pit Boss- Shorty and his crew, rescuing pit bulls. I just love all of the trouble they seem to get into. 
10. Greys Anatomy- Hot doctors and all of the drama, what's not to love. 

Needless to say, the DVR is my best friend. I  love it and want to marry it. Am I unstable? Or perhaps, I don't have a life. 

Ah, so very true!

Why a Blend?

I've had a lot of questions lately as to why I make my containers with a soy blend instead of just straight soy or paraffin. Well, my answer is very simple. I like them better blended. No, really, I do!

I've tested many waxes over the past couple of years. Straight soy and straight paraffin. I loved the look of the soy. Creamy and smooth. (Kind of like Butter!) Paraffin has it's own unique look and the scent throw is awesome. Soy is a fickle beast to work with. It frosts, it cracks and sometimes it just doesn't work well with a particular fragrance. for larger containers, you have to double wick.  Paraffin seemed to throw each fragrance very well, but it had too much soot. It also required re-pours and I simply do not have the patience for re-pours. So in an effort to find the best of both worlds, I blended them. I blend 80% pure soy with 20% paraffin. Voila! After some tweaking and patience I've come up with the perfect blend. They have the creamy appearance of soy without a lot of the fickleness. The paraffin smooths them out and and shortens the cure time. You then have a Wickful Things candle!

So what do you get from a Wickful Things candle? You get a strong smelling, beautiful candle that has little to no soot and lasts a long time. They burn all the way out to the edge with little to no hangup and wasted wax.

I may not be good at a lot of things but I make an AWESOME candle. I also make awesome soy tarts and melts for those who prefer pure soy. I like to think of my candles as mostly pure with a little bit of wicked. Just like me:-)

Certified Handmade Proud!

I finally received my certified handmade artifact. It only took 3 weeks but I'm happy all the same! On a different note, with fall here, I find myself sad because there is no Trueblood on Sunday nights. Oh, how I loved my Trueblood. I will just have to start endlessly at the HBO reruns for glimpses of Eric Northman. How sad am I???

wickfulthings

Handmade Unique Gifts

Woofstock 2010, Paws for the animals.

I'm working at Woofstock tomorrow in Riverfront Park, Harrisburg. It's gonna be a great time. There is supposed to be a lot of great animal friendly vendors, music, food and entertainment. If you are in the harrisburg area, stop by and enjoy.

It should be a beautiful day also. The weather is going to be sunny and warm. All proceeds go to benefit the animals and the Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance. You can check them out here:

http://www.cpaa.info/


Gratuitous pic of my puppy!

I bit the bullet...

I signed up for my first craft show. Alas, I'm biting the bullet so to speak.  So, in three weeks, I make the big craft show leap. A friend from work is helping the boyscouts with there harvest festival and she happens to love my candles so she asked me to do this. I agreed. We will see how it goes. I'm doing a lot of research to make sure I'm prepared to make this a fun and economical weekend. I've been making lists of things I will need and how much stock to bring. Any recommendation, let me know.

Really cool opportunity.

Artfire has announced a new group deal . With the sign up of 20,000 new pro accounts you will only have to pay $5.95 a month. That's a 10.00 savings. SO if you've been contemplating opening a pro-account, now is the time. If you don't have a current account just sign up for a free basic then do the upgrade to pro. It really is easy.

The tools on artfire are really awesome and easy to use. I think one of the best things is the fact you can link to your outside studios and websites. Buyers don't need an account to sign up.

Seriously, give it a try, you have nothing to lose!